Ancient Egypt And Ancient China

The Egyptian complex societies grew up along the banks of the longest river in the world, the Nile. During the third millennium BCE these people created a distinctive and powerful state. Many of the people living here had migrated to Egypt, some from the eastern and western deserts in Sinai and Libya. Ancient Egypt was an area where different cultures blended cultural practices and technologies. Very similar to the people of Egypt were the people of East Asia. Just like all the other people of this time, East Asians settled in river basins. These settlements along the Yellow River and Yangzi River became the starting point for the Chinese state. These two areas shared some very similar aspects of life, but also some differing ways of living. Egypt had densely populated areas that relied on the floodwaters of the Nile to grow crops. This culture was pretty isolated and was overwhelmingly shaped by …show more content…
Similar to the Nile the Yellow and Yangzi rivers had annual floods that helped sustain agriculture and a dense population. China also had geographical boundaries that did not allow for the diffusion of new ideas and technologies. These boundaries hindered the Chinese more than it did for the Egyptians, which is why writing systems, priestly classes, and etc. took longer. China was split into two different regions: the northern Yellow and the Yangzi river basin. These regions relied on different crops, built different types of houses, and buried their dead differently. Centralization occurred when contact between the two regions increased. Just like Egypt and many of the other empires during this time, a long drought hit China and hindered progress. After this period they began to be even more similar to the Egyptians. They built extensive irrigation system and had a powerful force connect the people. However, the Chinese political and social systems still diverged from most the rest of the